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Summary: Good Exercises and Stretches
Review: I found the stretches and exercises in this book beneficial, and could really feel my muscles working. I enjoyed the floor barre section, and I feel that if I had enough time to do the exercises more regularly I would really see the benefits. I am a teenage dancer, at an intermediate level, but I feel that the exercises would be beneficial for both non dancers and dancers at all levels. Some of the exercises could be difficult if the individual is not flexible at all, and some of the center exercises could be rather simple for intermediate to advanced level dancers. All in all I enjoyed the workout and the book (especially the lovely photographs and information about dancers in the New York City Ballet).
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Summary: This book does not just sit on the shelf!
Review: After a hiatus of my regular cardio workouts (usually biking and running), I recently decided to update my exercise regimen. In the meantime, I've been committed to regular weighttraining and maintaining my flexibility through yoga and calitsthenics. I evaluated my "old" cardio workouts and realized that constant, rigorous biking and running weren't great for MY body, so I danced because it came naturally for me. I found this book and was very motivated. The photography is beautiful, and the writing as straightfoward and fluid as the moves and exercises throughout. Now I enjoy a broader and more beneficial fitness schedule. Along with weights and regular lighter cardio exercise, the ballet workout elongates my muscles, so they're not only strong,but they're shapely, not bulky.
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Summary: great book!
Review: This book is a really good workout. The excercises help improve flexibility and tone the muscles that are necessary for ballet technique. I don't remember the excercises being all that great for an aerobic workout though.
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Summary: This will NOT teach you ballet...
Review: What this book WILL do is guide you through an exercise routine that is as challenging and fun as you want to make it. The exercises are divided into different sections: warm-up, stretches, abdominals, legs, floor barre, and ballet. There are also sample routines in the back of the book for emphasizing different aspects of fitness: endurance, strength, abs, etc. Each movement is shown step-by-step with written instructions, and almost every one moves your body through motions it is probably not accustomed to doing. After just the 10-minute stretch, I am already feeling energetic and relaxed. The exercises are fun, often quite challenging, and they accomplish what they claim they will. This book will not make you a ballet dancer ~ one-on-one classes are irreplaceable for that. But using the exercises contained in it will supplement your dancing (or any other activity you're involved with!) by making your body stronger and more graceful.
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Summary: Finally, exercise you actually WANT to do!
Review: This book is a wonderful way to firm and tone your muscles while achieving a balletic grace. I usually hate workout books or even using exercise machines because the routine seems so pointless. This book, however, gives a purpose to the exercises. It won't make you a professional dancer, or even an amateur one, but you'll feel more graceful and become more flexible. Before you even start the exercises, you're inspired by the excellent photographs of the beautiful dancers. If you're as out of shape as I am, at first the stretches and exercises seem almost impossible, but after only just a few days they become easier as you regain flexibility and muscle tone. Most importantly, you develop an awareness of your body that stays with you long after you've finished your workout. This is the best workout program I've ever used. I recommend it especially as a post-partum routine for women who want to regain their pre-pregnancy muscle tone and flexibility.
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Summary: Motivating and easy to follow
Review: What a wonderful book! I just bought it and I can't wait to get started. I've read it from cover to cover a few times, and I'm more than pleased with my purchase. The magnificent bodies are marvelous and breathtaking. It's true that the first few pages are bios and frou frou, but their stories are inspiring and motivating. Plus, they discuss why dancers' bodies are more agile and sculpted than most athletes, as well as tips on getting started, how to listen to your body and optimize your workout. The workout is divided into six sections. Warm up and Stretch, followed by Abs (14-20 minutes), Floor barre (12-16 minutes), Ballet center (16-22 minutes) and Legs (16-22 minutes). Although they say you can do the entire workout as time permits, they offer suggestions for 10 or 20 minute workouts, as well as specialized workouts to correlate with specific sports for strength and flexibility or body parts of concentration. The instructions are clear-cut and detailed and along with the music selections they recommend, you'll feel like a prima ballerina. Personally, I have a lot of fat to lose so I plan on using this workout as a supplement to an aerobic regimen. I'm looking forward to using this workout every morning to get my day started.
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Summary: An Excellent Guide to Flexibility
Review: I am not a dancer, but this book has taught my body to be more flexible. Non-dancers in general are tense and tight, not using the proper muscles to support their back. But if you go through this book with an open mind, it will help immensely to straighten and strenghthen your posture. (Not to mention all the flexibility you gain!) I have heard that this book is difficult for people with no ballet backround. I had no problem with it. The notes explain enough for you to do the exercise properly. As long as you have an idea of what your body can do without hurting itself, you should be just fine. The excercises are meant for building strength and flexibility in your muscles. The stretches feel really good! And the more I do, the more flexibile I become. I love it! I love this book. You will too!
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Summary: Awesome, Awesome, Awesome!
Review: Just looking at the wonderful pictures in this book makes one want to get up and start doing the exercises right away so they can be that graceful and elegant. I did the exercises in the book during the summer after my dance team's season ended so that I could stay in shape for the next season. The book has a lot of really good stretches that would be helpful for a beginner or an expert, or anyone in between for that fact. The illustrations are really helpful for making sure that the exercises and stretches are done correctly (as well as encouraging the reader to continue in this pursuit so that, some day, they too can be that gracful and that flexible!).
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Summary: I find this a valuable reference
Review: I find this a great reference for working out, especially with the NYC Ballet workout on DVD. My biggest complaint is that it's designed more like a "coffee-table book" than an exercise manual. A spiral binding would have made all the difference, as the pages would be able to lie flat. I *do* enjoy the commentary at the beginning, and the photography is simply luscious. Because the book doesn't lie open on it's own, I have a little trouble following the whole "long" routine directly from the book. However, the shorter routines in the back are easier to do, as I can usually remember all the movements (or only need to reference one or two). I read a suggestion, somewhere, that you make an audio recording of each movement (reading out the text description) and the number of reps counted out, and then play it back while working out. This would be instead of fumbling with the book. I'm working on doing that, myself, and I hope it will aid me in doing the whole long routine. I think the pictures in this book are clear and detailed enough to even teach someone who doesn't have a ballet background "how" to do the movements, but, I coudn't say that for sure, as I had 8 years of lessons. Gwen
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Summary: Thank you, Mr. Martins
Review: Peter Martins has worked a small miracle with this comprehensively wonderful anthem to the human body. Most of us seeking an exercize program begin our regamins with good intentions but, I would think, grudgingly. Study the faces of people jogging on the street, "powerwalking", or laboring in gyms, and despite protestations of "runners' highs or endorphin "cascades" to the contrary, most of these people look simply miserable. Perhaps that is so because they are missing the point: exercize can be a gift to oneself; it needn't be a demand we make of ourselves or a whip we hold over our heads for the purpose of shedding pounds or lowering cholesterol. Exercize can be--as Mr. Martins seems to tacitly imply--an almost sacred experience insofar as it can enable us to move closer to the ideals of physique and wellness that we all hope to obtain. I have noticed that several reviewers have criticized the first part of this book because it is an apparent departure from the task at hand: to tutor the reader in an exercize program ostensibly used by dancers of the New York City Ballet. This, in my opinion, is hollow criticism. Peter Martins is clearly setting the table for what is to come. He is very gently leading the reader to accept the possibility of an idea that he has found to be true in his own life: exercizes used by professional dancers can be learned and practiced by everyone to tremendous advantage for more robust health, enhanced gracefulness, and to develope a physique that will make us feel more at home in our bodies. To those ends, Mr. Martins has been uncommonly successful. His passion for his art and his belief in the potential of his readers fairly spills from the pages of this book and we begin to believe that yes, we, too, possess a marvelous God-given instrument that we can mould into something more wonderful and beautiful than we might imagine.
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